Monday, August 6, 2012

Peach Season

We have our Johnson family reunion coming up this Saturday in a little town west of here. It's on my mother's side of the family. Sadly, all of the aunts and uncles are gone so it's just cousins and second cousins getting together. We always have a good time, but some of the older cousins aren't getting around much anymore either.

I called my cousin Paul to see if he would make it and he said that not only would he come but he's bringing peach pies! That brought back memories of peach season from my childhood.

Peaches used to come in big baskets that were repurposed as laundry baskets to haul the wet laundry out to the clothesline. Sometimes, mom would just buy a "lug" of peaches in a flat wooden crate.

In any case, that meant it was time to can peaches for the coming winter. As the oldest child, I was given the task of bringing up all the dusty canning jars from the basement. Even worse was having to scrub them in hot water on what was invariably a miserable hot day. The kitchen would be steamy and sticky from blanching and peeling the peaches before cutting them in half and packing them tightly in the jars.

I swore that I would never can peaches when I grew up!

My dad was really fond of peaches and cream so we had that for dessert every night after supper during peach season. I was in charge of peeling and dicing the peaches into six dishes to serve with half-and-half and sugar. There is no fancy dessert that can surpass a fresh, juicy peach--unless it's peach pie!

Canning season was always during a heat wave. The peach halves went rounded side up into the quart jar and went around counter clockwise until the jar was full. If there were no fork tine holes in the peach half it meant mom had a child small enough to sit on the counter and put a peach half in with his/her hand.

Oh, but your post brought back warm memories, Ms Sparrow. We didn't have that many peaches in LA -- until my dad went to Georgia for some reason or other and drove thru the night to get home with baskets of peaches, the jars and so on. It would've been cheaper if he'd bought canned peaches at the GA stand, but, as the oldest child I got stuck with washing the new jars, yay, me, LOL! Anyway, by the time we finished, the kitchen was a disaster, we were a mess, and we kids had 'stolen' so many bites of peaches our tummies looked like peaches. But, oh, the memories. It was sooo worth it. And a peach pie is too yummy for words.

What memories. I didn't grow up with canning (growing up In NYC, I didn't even know people still did that)! But Jerry grew up canning in South Dakota. So when we got together and lived in rural Connecticut, we started to can together. We had purple rosette/blue ribbon peaches at the Guilford Agricultural Fair every year. I loved doing it. But, we also had air conditioning! Peach pie is my favorite!!! Have a great time at your family reunion. I think they are amazing events -- with other people's families!

My mom was afraid of botulism... she'd can peaches then be afraid for us to eat them. I think she was glad when frozen food lockers became available to rent (before folks could afford to have their own freezers). My favorite peach recipe is Peach Cobbler... crusty with carmelized sugary juice on top!

I too love fresh peaches... but home-made peach ice-cream is my all time favorite! My mom didn't can any and neither do I, but I do make it down to Ham's Peach Orchard each year and stock up on peaches, peach cobblers, peach pie, and home-made peach ice-cream.

About Me

I'm a big fan of my home state of Minnesota, especially because all of my kids and grandkids live here. I'm retired but keep busy with puttering, volunteering and writer's groups. I have three well-loved kitties who keep me smiling. I am surrounded by trees and wildlife even though I live within a few miles (as the crow flies) of the state capitol building in downtown St Paul. This keeps me quite contented.